- Who
- Joseph and Georgiana Michaud
- Came to Langley
- 1878, from near Quebec City
- Known for
- Langley's first French Canadian family; built the City's oldest house, in 1888
- The house
- 5202 204 Street, Langley City; a heritage site since 1980, looked after by the Langley Heritage Society
- Last checked
- October 23, 2026
The oldest house in Langley City isn’t on a main road. It’s on a quiet residential stretch of 204 Street, white with gingerbread brackets over the door, and it was built in 1888 by a dairy-farming family from Quebec.
The family
The Township’s heritage study says the Michauds were French in origin and had settled near Quebec City before coming west in 1878 with Joseph’s brothers and sisters. They were following a cousin, Maximilien Michaud, who had arrived earlier and bought 240 hectares of Langley Prairie; Joseph and his wife, whom the study describes as of Irish origin, farmed there. The Heritage Society tells a slightly different version, calling Maximilien Joseph’s older brother, who walked and rode the train from Montreal in 1869 and also bought a Vancouver hotel known as “Maxie’s.” We give both, because both are published.
What they agree on: Joseph and Georgiana were Langley’s first French Canadian family, they ran a dairy farm, and in 1888 they built the house.
Faith, in the front room
The first Roman Catholic mass in Langley was said inside the Michaud house, according to Heritage BC and the Heritage Society. Later an old schoolhouse was moved onto the family’s hay field and became St. Joseph’s church. The Heritage Society says it was named after Joseph’s uncle, a priest who came west in the 1858 gold rush and built Victoria’s first Catholic church.
The house since
The Beaulieu family later ran the property as a dairy farm. The City of Langley designated the house a heritage site in 1980, and the Langley Heritage Society, with money from the BC Heritage Trust and the Michaud family, took on its restoration: flood-proofing the basement, a new roof, paint matched to the original colours, and Victorian wallpapers inside. It was the Society’s first big restoration job. A tenant lives in the house and keeps the gardens, which is why it can feel like a private home when you walk past.
The family’s parlour was recreated at the Langley Centennial Museum from donated furnishings; the Heritage Society says that display is moving to salishan Place by the River.
Visiting
It’s a lived-in heritage house, so treat it like one: look from the street, and check with the Langley Heritage Society for any open days.
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Last checked October 22, 2026. Spotted something out of date? Tell us.
